Columns

Debunking The Bad Science of Books and Reading

January 12th, 2022

The joke among readers and writers is that we all got into the arts because we suck at math and science. Sometimes, I’m not so sure it’s a joke. I keep seeing these TERRIBLY unscientific studies about books and reading passed between readers and writers. Studies like these.

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2022: Write A New Beginning for This Story

January 11th, 2022

There are New Year's resolutions like these: Exercise more Eat healthier Meditate first thing in the morning Use a daily planner ...which feel more like socially acceptable lifestyle habits that everyone pretends they're really good at maintaining. The thing is, nobody really follows through, because if they did, they wouldn't need to resolve the same thing every year.

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Stephen King’s 10 Most Underrated Novels From a Guy Who's Read Them All

January 10th, 2022

A few years ago, Richard Chizmar of Cemetery Dance started his Stephen King Revisited effort to reread all of the horror meister's works in the order they were published. He invited others to join him, so I did. A few weeks before the end of 2021, I finished. As of now, I have essentially read everything Stephen King has ever published.

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Revolutionize Your Writer’s Resolutions With Habits That’ll Manifest Your Best Life

January 7th, 2022

Photo by Markus Winkler via Pexels We’ve all said it, “This is the year I finish my novel.” Or worse, “This is the year I write half a million words!” Writers tend to make grand declarations at the start of the New Year, never taking into consideration how to put such ideas into action.

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Accountability Matters: Revisiting My 2021 Resolutions

January 6th, 2022

Original Photo by Godisable Jacob My intro to the piece I wrote more than year ago about resolutions still applies (sadly), so here you go:

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Why John Urbancik is the Greatest Short Story Writer of All Time

January 5th, 2022

I should point out that John Urbancik has some great novels too, along with stellar nonfiction work. Praising his short stories isn’t meant to imply that his other stuff isn’t great as well.

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Will Libraries Ever Recover From COVID?

January 4th, 2022

You've probably put some thought into whether your uncle is going to come out of COVID unscathed. Maybe he’s vaccinated. Maybe he's unvaxxed and hoping for the best while he drinks his 34th Dew of the day. Maybe his vaccination status is unknown, but he's one of those cockroach men who'd survive getting hit by a flaming bus constructed entirely of spoiled chicken, so, regardless of COVID, he'll keep Ski-Doo and Swisher Sweets in business for a few more years at least.  

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All the Way IN: Immersive Fiction

January 3rd, 2022

Kathe Koja’s work is always genre-bending and immersive, but The Cipher might as well be a VR headset. The real world always feels real.

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Storyville: Setting Short-Term Goals for Your Writing Career

December 30th, 2021

As we get close to the end of the year, wrapping up 2021 and getting ready for 2022, I wanted to talk to you about your short-term goals. Every time you get to the end of a year, why not re-evaluate what you did, and look for ways to set some goals for the upcoming year? I’m writing this about 2022, but it could be at the end of ANY year, leading into the next one. Here are some ideas on what you can think about as you look at ways to improve as a writer.

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10 of My Favorite YA Books from 2021

December 29th, 2021

The year is waning. Finally, after months of being a terrible year, 2021 is coming to a close. Long live 2022! But first — there were a few good things about this year. And yes, you guessed it: those things were books! Specifically, YA novels, ones that were released this year and that I was lucky enough to read as they were published. In no particular order, my 10 favorite YA books released in 2021 are below.

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